To determine if a high voltage (HV) pulse is coming out of the ignition coil of an internal combustion engine, a high voltage wire is normally removed from a spark plug or from the distributor, and the wire is held a very short distance from the electrical ground of the engine. If a spark is seen to jump between the HV wire and ground then it is known that there is a significant high voltage pulse at that point in the circuit. While there are other ways to check for a spark, all of them depend on either removal of the spark plug wire and insertion of a test device, or cumbersome inductive coupling methods, e.g., ferrite core pick-up coils, as in a conventional timing light circuit. One disadvantage of these techniques includes the removal of the wire and insertion of a test device and possible electrical shock when performing this test.